All About Orson Welles*

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by NickySee, Nov 11, 2022.

  1. John Moschella

    John Moschella Senior Member

    Location:
    Christiansburg, VA
    I have somewhat mixed feelings about Orson. I love some of the films he made and acted in. I consider The Third Man and Kane amongst the greatest of all time.
    However, I'm always left with that feeling that it should have been much more. All the unfinished projects, lack of funding etc. It can't be all the other guy's fault, Welles must have been very poor at professional relationships. He is the kind of guy that needed a good business partner. But, it is what it is.

    I have a soft spot for Lady from Shanghai, while the accent is bad, I love Rita as a blonde.
     
  2. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Quite. It’s still my favorite from him - just relentlessly dirty. So many of his more lauded films either bore me, feel uneven or drop the ball in some way. Touch of Evil, as his interviewer in the clip below says, leaves no room for maneuver - and is precisely why (for me) it’s his most complete film -



    Lakeshore PBS had has a very good copy streaming free for a while. Hope it stays up a bit longer.
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2022
  3. Crack To The Egg

    Crack To The Egg Forum Resident

    Location:
    OR
    I think Welles’ ADHD got the better of him in his later career. Hyper fixating at some moments, only to cast aside ideas and forward momentum when his interests and fixations changed.

    Without people willing to question his genius, which he was happy to protect if challenged, he was bound to repeat that cycle.
     
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  4. nutsfortubes

    nutsfortubes They tried to kill us, and we won!

    Location:
    New Jersey
  5. ArchFates

    ArchFates Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    He was asked by the American government to do some kind of goodwill documentary in South America, but yeah, he made a big mistake with Magnificent Ambersons, and similar mistake with Touch of Evil. He was brilliant film maker, but he had some flaws.

    I think he was too much of a maverick and too stubborn for Hollywood, you gotta know how to play the game too.
     
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  6. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

  7. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    Dean Martin roast, as only Welles can go over the top serious

    When the moon hits your eye
    Like a big pizza pie
    THAT's amoré!
     
  8. PonceDeLeroy

    PonceDeLeroy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    On the musical side, Welles was pals with Miles Davis when Miles was involved with Juliette Greco.
     
  9. ArchFates

    ArchFates Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
  10. a customer

    a customer Forum Resident

    Location:
    virginia
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  11. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    If you haven't seen Compulsion, you owe it to yourself to see it. His speech at the end was among the most intense non Shakespeare Welles I ever saw.
     
  12. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I'm going to go out on a limb and say I don't like "A Touch of Evil" all that much. Huge Welles fan, major influence on my life. But I HATE Dennis Weaver in that movie. And I don't buy Charlton Heston in Brown Face. Janet Leigh, as always, looks great in a sweater, but I always thought she was a putrid actress. I always lose interest about halfway through this film. But I guess I've never seen the Welles cut. Same way everyone backs "Vertigo" (made the same year, 1958) as Hitchcock's masterpiece, but I don't really dig it as a movie.


    Give me Kane, Lady From Shanghai, the Trial, Mr. Arkadian
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2022
  13. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    This was excellent, btw. I forgot how good an interviewer Tom Snyder was. Thanks.
     
  14. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Yeah, I don't like Touch of Evil much, either, though it's my favorite from him. Feels like his most successfully realized film, despite the studio butchery. I admire Welles, the man, far more than any of films. Don't think I'm in the minority on that score. :D
     
    Last edited: Nov 13, 2022
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  15. jwoverho

    jwoverho Licensed Drug Dealer

    Location:
    Mobile, AL USA
    If I remember correctly, there were some shots in OTHELLO that were done months apart, even dialogue scenes between characters, and Orson was able to keep all of the shots straight. I'm sure he did that with many projects, as most of his own work was halted in order for him to take an acting role to raise money to continue filming.

    Re: SHANGHAI. Orson had to have been filled with a perverse glee when he turned Hollywood's iconic redhead into a blonde. Somewhere in storage I have a Columbia photo shoot of the whole cut and dye process Rita went through. Columbia head Harry Cohn (who pursued Rita and terrorized her for years) was enraged at Orson's handiwork.
     
  16. 64FALCON

    64FALCON Forum Resident

    I'm sure Orson took the small role in HOUSE OF CARDS (1968-Drama) to pay some bills.
     
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  17. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    True. Except for Kane - which is untouchable as a landmark film - Orson the thesbian and daring artist is what I admire most.
     
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  18. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Kane's a bore. Hearst was never that dull. But I concur with its technical triumphs.
     
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  19. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    On The new Criterion Collection edition of Kane -



    detailed but fun :)
     
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  20. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    Interesting, you started a thread about him, but don't seem to like any of his films
     
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  21. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US

    Kane's not a bore... not compared to "The Magnificent Ambersons" ... now that I found boring.
     
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  22. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Like I said, I admire Welles, the adventurer, filmmaker, raconteur and all around showman (wish there were more of his stature like him) and like many of his films but I don't feel (and he'd probably agree) he was one of the 20th century's great arists. But so what? We would have been poorer without him. And Kane is smashing bore.
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2022
  23. Halloween Jack

    Halloween Jack Forum Resident

    Touch of Evil is my favorite. The first 30 minutes are a great energetic thriller. After that, it turns into a very dark and intriguing police investigation.

    Welles' character Quinlan is also very imposing and menacing. An impressive performance by Welles. He dominates every other character in the film! Nobody can stand up to him!

    I also read that The Lady From Shanghai was 4 hours long. Imagine how it could have been with 4 hours

    I also like The Trial a lot. It's very experimental and it happens a lot of things in it.
     
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  24. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    :righton:
     
  25. NickySee

    NickySee Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Though I Kane leaves me cold I love hearing about the drama surrounding its conception, development and aftermath, particularly from Welles, himself -

     

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